Music: Boston Redux

A second dip into the Boston well, a classic track that is a killer jam.

The year was 1978, I was 13 years old, and between delivering newspapers, and buying the shittiest weed that was available, I was building a small collection of music, that I played on an inherited (ok, not a true inheriting, but a hand-me-down) HiFi system that was hand built by my father from Heathkit projects.

One of my favorite discs was the original Boston album, and I wore that LP out. The song that got the most radio airplay was the ubiquitous “More than a Feeling”, a perennial favorite. However, my favorites on the album were Foreplay/Longtime, Smokin’, and the sleeper tune Hitch a Ride.

About 7 months ago I wrote about the anthem “Foreplay/Longtime”:

Music Appreciation: Boston
Flashback: Late 1970’s. Unlike former president Clinton, I actually inhaled the smoke of wisdom. After some of the shitty weed we got back then, I would don the headphones, and spin some vinyl on my cobbled together stereo system, and just tune out.

A killer jam all the way, but today’s jam is one of my other favorites, Smokin’.

It is hard driving jam, with a killer groove, and it just rocks from the opening riff to the very last sustained note. One can tell it was a crowd favorite when played live, it just slays.

Unlike the Foreplay/Longtime that has the long building organ intro, this tune has a long internecine organ jam. Here’s a live version. Alas, it was recorded after the original vocalist, Bradley Delp, passed away, so as somewhat of a tribute, I present Smokin’:

As if that wasn’t enough, the South Park show used Smokin’ as the soundtrack for when Gerald Broflovsky was doing his online trolling, and that is also worth a share:

Whenever I hear this song, I am transported back to my early teens, where we shared a spliff, and then retired to my room where I put my headphones on, and dropped the needle on the album Boston, and vegetated.

Good memories indeed!


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